Mobile Terminal Providing Graphic User Interface and Method of Providing Graphic User Interface Using the Same

ABSTRACT

A mobile terminal providing a graphic user interface and method of providing a graphic user interface are disclosed. In one embodiment a mobile terminal may comprise a control unit, a touch screen display unit coupled to the control unit, and a memory storing instructions to be executed by the control unit. In one embodiment a method may comprise displaying and then moving one or more icons around the screen of the mobile terminal, detecting a designation of a point on the screen, and executing a predefined action based on a distance from a location of the designated point to a location of at least one of the icons. Another embodiment may detect an application related event, display an indicator icon, and execute a predefined action in response to the event detection.

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/410,312, filed on Apr. 25, 2006 and claims the benefit of KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2005-34542, filed on Apr. 26, 2005 and KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2005-34952, filed on Apr. 27, 2005, both ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fullyset forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal using a touch screendisplay, and more particularly, to a mobile terminal providing a graphicuser interface that may be manipulated with a pointed instrument via thetouch screen display. Methods of use of the graphic user interface onsuch a mobile terminal are also presented.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Generally, a mobile terminal, such as a cell phone, uses an X-Ycoordinate system to describe a location of a point on its associateddisplay screen. In operation, a user generally moves a cursor to a givenpoint on the display screen and “clicks” an enter key. The mobileterminal may interpret the click of the enter key as a command tocapture the X-Y coordinates of the cursor. For example, several iconsmay be displayed on the mobile terminal's display screen. Each icon maybe associated with an application stored in a memory of the mobileterminal. The user may cause the cursor to hover over one of the icons.At this instant, the cursor's location and the location of at least onepoint within the perimeter of the icon share common coordinates; theirlocations coincide. This situation may be referred to as having thecursor “on” the icon. In this situation, when the user clicks the enterkey of the mobile terminal, it may capture the X-Y coordinate locationof the cursor. The captured cursor coordinates could be compared to thecoordinates of all points within the perimeter of each of the icons onthe display. If the location of the cursor coincides with the locationof at least one point within the perimeter of one of the displayedicons, the mobile terminal may launch (i.e., “execute”) the applicationassociated with that icon.

The user, however, may not have the cursor on an icon when he or sheclicks the enter key. In this situation, because the location of thecursor fails to coincide with the location of at least one point withinthe perimeter of any of the displayed icons, the mobile terminal will donothing.

The desktops of mobile terminals are becoming crowded as mobileterminals shrink in physical size and as users add more functionality totheir mobile terminals. The combination of at least these two factorsmay mean that more icons of a smaller size are being packed into ashrinking display area. As mobile terminals with advanced features, suchas touch screens, downloadable movies, downloadable music, streaminglive television programming and video conferencing features gainpopularity, the problem of accurately locating a desired icon willincrease.

When using a touch screen, good aim is required to correctly hit adesired icon with a stylus. The wrong application may be launched if theuser's aim is off and he hits an unintended icon. Alternatively, noapplication will be launched if the user misses her icon and taps theempty desktop are between icons. In practice, because mobile terminalsare often jostled as they are operated, a user's aim is directlyimpacted by the movement of the mobile terminal itself. If frustrationis to be avoided and productivity is to be increased, users must have away to reduce desktop clutter and receive an interesting and/or humorousoutcome if their desired outcome (e.g., launching an application) doesnot materialize.

What is needed is an apparatus and method to cause icons to move aboutthe display and to cause at least one icon on the display to move towardand/or around a selection point when the selection point falls on thedesktop of the display, and not on an icon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a mobile terminal,which may be a mobile terminal, providing a graphic user interface andmethod of providing the graphic user interface that substantiallyobviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages ofthe related art.

In one embodiment of the invention, a method to provide a graphic userinterface on a touch screen display of a mobile terminal may includedisplaying one or more icons associated with one or more applications ofthe mobile device on the touch screen display. The icons may be causedto move about the touch screen display in a pattern. A control unit maydetect a designation of a point on the touch screen display, and if thedesignated point does not coincide with any point within a perimeter ofany of the one or more icons the control unit may select at least one ofthe one or more icons based on a distance between the designated pointand the at least one icon. Thereafter, a predefined action involving theat least one icon may be executed.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method of providing a graphicuser interface on a touch screen display of a mobile terminal mayinclude detecting a predefined event associated with an application ofthe mobile device and displaying an indicator icon on the touch screendisplay to indicate the detection of the event. Following the detectionof the event the control unit may cause the pattern of movement of theicon associated with the application to change, such that the changedpattern of motion results in the icon's interception of the indicatoricon. Thereafter the control unit may cause an animated event to bedisplayed, wherein the animated event depicts an animation of at leastthe icon associated with the application and the intercepted indicatoricon.

Additional advantages, icons, and features of the invention will be setforth in part in the description which follows and in part will becomeapparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination ofthe following or may be learned from practice of the invention.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal that may provide agraphic user interface according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of one method in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

FIGS. 3A to 3E represent an illustrative sequence of exemplary screenshots of a mobile terminal performing one embodiment of the method ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another method in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 5A to 5E represent an illustrative sequence of exemplary screenshots of a mobile terminal performing one embodiment of the method ofFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made to various embodiments of the invention,examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts. Embodiments of theinvention for use with mobile terminals having touch screen displays maybe described herein. The invention, however, may perform with equalsatisfaction using either fixed or mobile displays, with or withouttouch screen display input.

Desktop environments exist for graphic user interfaces (“GUIs”) on bothfixed and mobile terminals. On a mobile terminal, a cursor's movementmay be directed by, for example, rotating a wheel, manipulating afour-way key, or manipulating four individual directional buttons. Somemobile terminals use a touch screen as an input device. Data may beentered to the mobile terminal via the touch screen. Touch screen datainput may be facilitated by use of a pointed instrument. Arepresentative pointed instrument is a stylus. Other objects, such as apen, pencil, or finger may be used. Pens and pencils, however, may leavemarks on the touch screen. Fingers may be too large to select menuitems, including icons, that are displayed in close proximity to oneanother. The term “touch screen device” is intended to encompass allinput devices that accept data in a manner other than exclusivelythrough the use of a keyboard. Touch screen devices may thereforeencompass pressure sensitive, capacitive, heat sensitive, and lightsensitive (e.g., functioning by breaking rows and columns of light)transducers to provide input to the mobile device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal 10 that may provide agraphic user interface according to an embodiment of the invention. Themobile terminal 10 may include a control unit 12, such as amicroprocessor or controller. The mobile terminal 10 may also include amemory 14, which may be used to store data and executable codeassociated with a method according to an embodiment of the invention.The mobile terminal 10 may also include a display 16 to displaydata/images according to commands generated by the control unit 12. Thedisplay 16 may be a touch screen display. The display 16 may thereforeserve as at least one input/output device of the mobile terminal 10. Auser may use the touch screen display 16 with an associated stylus 18 toinput data to the mobile terminal 10. The mobile terminal 10 may alsoinclude one or more additional input devices, such as a keypad 20. Awireless communication transmitter/receiver device 22 and associatedantenna 24 may be associated with the mobile terminal 10. The wirelesscommunication device 22 may be useful for transmitting and/or receivingdata to and/or from, respectively, a remote source 26. The data may bedigital and/or analog. The remote source 24 may be a mobile base stationor other intermediary point between the user's mobile terminal 10 and afixed or mobile terminal (not shown) in communication with the user'smobile terminal. The mobile terminal 10 may also include a sound unit 28that outputs sound. Sounds may be generated in response to a commandfrom the control unit 12 and may provide an audible indicator for theuser. The mobile terminal 10 may also include a vibratory device 30,which may be used to provide a tactile indicator to the user. The memory14, touch screen display 16, keypad 20, wireless communication device22, sound device 28, and vibratory device 30 may all be coupled to thecontrol unit 12 via a communication bus 32.

The stylus 18, in cooperation with the touch screen display 16, may beused to control movement of a cursor, pointer, or the like. The stylus18 may be used to designate a location of a point on the touch screendisplay 16 that may or may not coincide with the location of an icon. Ofcourse, movement of the cursor or pointer, or designation of an icon ora point on the touch screen display 16 may be implemented using otheritems, such as a mouse, a touch pad, a joystick, a four-way key, or thelike. Moreover, it will be understood that recitation of any listsherein is not meant to limit the invention to the items recited in thelist; all lists are intended to be illustrative and not limiting.

FIG. 2 illustrates one method in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. At 200, the control unit 12 may execute instructions todisplay one or more icons on the touch screen display 16 associated withthe mobile terminal 10. At 202, the control unit 12 may executeinstructions to cause each of the one or more icons to move about thedisplay screen in a pattern. The speed of any given icon's movement maybe fixed or variable.

The pattern may be substantially fixed, for example, a straight orsinusoidal path along a horizontal, diagonal, or vertical axis; acircular or elliptical path; or any other substantially predictablepattern. The pattern may alternatively be pseudo-random, for example, anapparently random path taken by a bee flying from flower to flower, oran apparently random path of a fish as it swims in an aquarium. Thepattern of movement of each of the one or more icons may be unique. Thatis, no two patterns repeat each other.

As there may be many icons moving about on the mobile terminal'sdesktop, the desktop may become crowded and visually confusing. A usermay thus elect to have only a fixed number of icons visible at any onetime. The fixed number of icons may be less than or equal to the totalnumber of icons available. At 204, if the user has not previouslylimited the number of icons on display or if the user does not want tomake a change to that number, then the method may proceed to 206. At206, the user may elect the number of icons that should be moving aboutthe touch screen display at any given time, or may change a previouselection.

Of course, the user may wish to see all of the mobile terminal's iconsover a given time period, in a rotating manner. Thus, the pattern ofmovement of each of the one or more icons may be calculated to causecertain ones of the icons to substantially disappear from the touchscreen display from time to time. Accordingly, at 208, the user mayenter a rate (e.g., three icons per 10 seconds) of icon visibility.Alternatively, a user may select an amount of time between cycles ofgroups, or individual ones of, icons. As used herein, a cycle may be theamount of time each icon is visible on the display screen of the mobileterminal (e.g., 20 seconds every minute). At 210, the order of “cycling”of icons in and out of visibility may be calculated by the control unit12. Multiple icons, may be substantially visible on the touch screendisplay in any given time period.

An icon may disappear from view by, for example, reducing its size untilit has substantially disappeared. The size reduction may make it appearas if the icon is moving deeper into the display, and thus movingfurther away from the user. An icon may disappear from view by, forexample, effectively moving the icon outside of the visible area of thetouch screen along any of its borders. Of course, the above examples arenot meant to be limiting in any way. The method may return to 200, wherethe next icon(s) in a cycle can be displayed. If, however, at 204, theelection of the number of icons to display was previously made or nochange to the election is desired, the method may continue to 212.

At 212, the control unit 12 may detect that the user has designated apoint on the display 16. Typically, a user designates a point bytapping, or otherwise touching the screen of the touch screen devicewith his or her stylus. Detecting the user's designation of a point mayrequire the evaluation of a control signal received, for example, by thecontrol unit 12 as an input from the touch screen display 16.

If, at 212, the control unit does not detect the designation of a pointthen, the method may continue to 210. If, however, the control unit doesdetect the designation of a point then, the method may proceed to 214.At 214, the control unit 12 may determine if the designated pointcoincides with any point within the perimeter of an icon. If so, themethod may proceed to 216 where the control unit 12 may execute code tolaunch the application associated with that icon. The word “application”is intended to have a broad meaning, including at least both a computerprogram assigned for a specific task or use and any function orsub-routine associated with that program. Thus, one icon on a desktopmay be associated with a word processing program while a second icon maybe associated with a spell checking function of that program.

In the instance where the designated point is located on the desktopitself, and not on any icon, then, at 218, the control unit 12 mayselect at least one of the icons then displayed on the display screen.The selection may be based, for example, on a distance between thedesignated point and the icon (e.g., the closest icon to the designatedpoint may be selected). At 220, the control unit may then execute apredefined action involving the selected icon.

Predefined actions may not be executed unless certain values aresatisfied; they may also be dependent on one or more values, such asdistance between the designated point and the selected icon. Forexample, the predefined action might only be executed when the distancebetween the designated point and the selected icon is less than apredetermined value. In this way, the user can determine (by setting thepredetermined value) how carefully he must aim his stylus at the icon.

A predefined action may cause, for example, the pattern of movement ofthe selected icon to change. The pattern of movement of the selectedicon may change, for example, to a circular pattern of motionsubstantially centered on the designated point on the screen.

The predefined action may alternatively or additionally involve changinga visual characteristic associated with the selected icon. Examples ofvisual characteristics that may be changed include size, color, shape,an animated feature of the icon, such as flapping of fins, wings, orarms, the running movement of legs, or shaking of all or part of theicon. Additionally, at 220, the predefined action may also includegenerating a sound.

Of course, the user may also set the predefined action to cause thelaunching of the application associated with the selected icon. In thisevent, the method may proceed to 224 and end. If the predefined actionis not the launch of the application associated with the icon, then at222 the method may return to 212 and continue as described above.

FIGS. 3A to 3E represent an illustrative sequence of exemplary screenshots of a mobile terminal performing one embodiment of the method ofFIG. 2. For illustrative purposes, the icons of FIGS. 3A to 3E arerepresented as fish, and the user's perspective is from above. It willbe understood that the icons could be represented, for example, as anylife form, abstract shape, regular shape, inanimate object, photographicimage, or any combinations of these and/or other categories of things.The shape and diversity of icons is not a limitation of the inventiondisclosed herein. In one non-limiting example, icons may be configuredwith an object oriented programming (“OOP”) module. Likewise, the user'sperspective is not limited to that illustrated in the figures presentedherein.

In FIG. 3A, the control unit 12 of the mobile terminal 10 has caused aplurality of icons 302, 304, 306, 308, 310 to be displayed on the touchscreen display 300. In the example of FIGS. 3A-3E, three icons 302, 304,and 310 may be associated with applications stored on the mobileterminal (television, messaging, and calendar, respectively). One icon306, providing an alarm, may be a associated with function of themessaging icon 304. Another icon 308, may provide a link to an album ofphotographs stored in the memory 14 of the mobile terminal 12. Forpurposes of this example, it may be assumed that the control unit 12 hasadditionally caused the displayed icons to move about the touch screendisplay 300. It may be assumed, for purposes of this example, that outof a plurality of icons, the user has set parameters that allow aboutfive icons to be displayed at any given time. Accordingly, one or moreof the icons moving about the display would, within a given time period,disappear from the screen and be replaced by other icons representingother applications. The methods of disappearance and appearance may bemade, for example, by any one or combination of the methods describedabove.

In FIG. 3B, a stylus 18 is illustrated as tapping or otherwise touchingthe surface of the touch screen 300 of the mobile terminal 10. By planor by accident, the user's stylus has touched the display 300 at a pointthat is not occupied by an icon. The control unit 12 may detect anddecode this touch as a designation of the X-Y coordinate of the cursor.The control unit 12 may select at least one icon according to apredetermined algorithm.

In FIG. 3C, the control unit 12 may calculate the distance (d₁, d₂, d₃)from the designated point (d₀) to each of the closest icons. In theexample as illustrated in FIG. 3C, the distances to each icon 302, 304,and 310 are equivalent. Thus, the control unit 12 may select all threeicons.

FIG. 3D illustrates the execution of one possible predefined action byeach of the three icons. As illustrated, the predefined action may be toalign each selected icon with the designated point (d₀) such that the“front” of the icon faces the designated point and the “rear” of theicon extends in a radial direction outward from the designated point.The execution of this predefined action may provide a benefit in thatthree moving icons have moved to one location on the display. Thisgrouping of icons may make it easier for the user to select the iconrepresenting a desired application. FIG. 3D illustrates the user'sselection of the icon associated with the message application 304. FIG.3E illustrates one example of a launched message program.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of another method in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Steps 200 through 210 of FIG. 2 arerepeated in the embodiment of FIG. 4. Disclosure of these steps isdescribed above, in relation to FIG. 2. At 412, a predefined event maybe detected. Examples of predefined events include a reception of amessage, for example, a message broadcast from remote source 24 (FIG.1). Another example of a predefined event may be a message or warninggenerated by the mobile terminal, for example, a low battery signal.Still another example of a predefined event may be associated with anapplication running on the mobile terminal, for example, the controlunit 12 may detect the setting of a flag by the calendar application;the flag may indicate that a predetermined alarm time has been reached.

The predefined event may be associated with a first application of theone or more applications of the mobile device. At 414, upon detection ofthe predefined event, the control unit 12 may cause an indicator icon tobe displayed on the touch screen display. The indicator icon may providea visual indication of the detection of the event. Substantiallysimultaneously, at 416, the icon associated with the first applicationis caused to appear (if not already displayed on the screen). At 418,the icon associated with the first application is caused change itspattern of movement such that the path taken by the icon associated withthe first application intercepts the indicator icon. Alternatively, bothicons could be made to intercept each other. At 420, upon interception,the control unit 12 may cause a visual interaction between the iconassociated with the first application and the intercepted indicator iconto occur. Such an interaction may be referred to as an “animated event.”

FIGS. 5A to 5E represent an illustrative sequence of exemplary screenshots of a mobile terminal performing one embodiment of the method ofFIG. 4. In FIG. 5A, the control unit 12 of the mobile terminal 10 hascaused a plurality of icons 302, 304, 306, 308, 310 to be displayed onthe touch screen display 300.

In FIG. 5B, the control unit 12 has detected an event. The event may bedecoded as a reception of a message, for example, from remote source 24.An indicator icon 512 representing the event may be displayed at aprescribed position on the screen 300. In the example of FIG. 5B, anenvelope-type icon is displayed on an upper left corner of the screen300 to indicate a reception of the message.

In FIG. 5C, the icon 306 for message application associated with theenvelope type icon (i.e., the indicator icon 512) is illustrated asmoving toward an intercept point with the indicator icon 512. FIG. 5Dillustrates a state in which the icon representing the messageapplication 306 intercepts the icon indicating the message reception512. The control unit 12 may cause the intercepted pair of icons toperform some animated stunt, or may cause the intercepted icons tocontinue to move about the screen in a coupled position. For example,the fish's eye(s), mouth, and/or gill(s), may move and/or the fish'sbody may undulate, shake or wiggle. The envelope may, for example,increase or decrease in size, change color, and/or it's sealing flap mayopen and close. If the event was an alarm and the indicating icon was analarm clock, then, for example, the alarm clock may vibrate, shake, spinits arms, and/or radiate curved lines to visually depict an alarm sound.Of course these lists are meant to be illustrative and in no waylimiting. FIG. 5E illustrates that the user may select to receive andopen the message by designating a point on the icon 306 (or indicatoricon 512).

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations may be made without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention as illustrated by the exemplaryembodiments described herein. Thus, it is intended that the presentinvention covers the modifications and variations of this inventionprovided they come within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents.

1. A method of displaying a moving object in a mobile communicationterminal, comprising: displaying a plurality of moving objects on atouch screen, wherein each of the moving objects keeps moving even whenthere is no user input, and wherein each of the moving objects has aunique pattern of movement; detecting a pointer touching thetouchscreen; and changing the pattern of the movement of each of themoving objects such that the moving objects move towards a touchedlocation on the touchcreen.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior todetecting the touched pointer, a head of each of the moving objects isdirected in an arbitrary direction according to its unique pattern. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein after detecting the touched pointer, thehead of each of the moving objects turns to face toward the touchedlocation and a tail of each of the moving objects turns to extend in aradial direction outward from the touched location.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the moving objects are in a shape of fish.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a specific one of the moving objectsrepresents a predefined event in the mobile communication terminal, thepredetermined event being irrespective of a user input, and wherein themethod further comprises changing an appearance of the specific movingobject when the predefined event occurs in the mobile communicationterminal.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the predefined event is oneof a low battery and a message reception.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein changing the appearance of the specific moving object includeschanging a color of the specific moving object.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein each of the moving objects moves at a variable speed.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the number of the plurality of moving objectsis increased or decreased during the movement of the moving objects. 10.The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of movingobjects appears from time to time regardless of a user input.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the moving objects move in the touch screenas if the moving objects were moving in a 3-dimensional space.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein each of the moving objects represents arespective function, and when one of the moving objects is touched bythe pointer, a function corresponding to the touched moving object isexecuted.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the pluralityof moving objects to be displayed on the touch screen can be limited bya user's setting.
 14. A mobile communication terminal comprising: amemory configured to store moving objects; a touchscreen configured todisplay a plurality of moving objects, wherein each of the movingobjects keeps moving even when there is no user input, and wherein eachof the moving objects has a unique pattern of movement, and to detect apointer touching the touchscreen; and a controller configured to changethe pattern of the movement of each of the moving objects such that themoving objects move towards a touched location on the touchcreen. 15.The terminal of claim 14, wherein prior to detecting the touchedpointer, a head of each of the moving objects is directed in anarbitrary direction according to its unique pattern.
 16. The terminal ofclaim 15, wherein after detecting the touched pointer, the head of eachof the moving objects turns to face toward the touched location and atail of each of the moving objects turns to extend in a radial directionoutward from the touched location.
 17. The terminal of claim 16, whereinthe moving objects are in a shape of fish.
 18. The terminal of claim 14,wherein a specific one of the moving objects represents a predefinedevent in the mobile communication terminal, the predetermined eventbeing irrespective of a user input, and wherein the controller isfurther configured to change a color of the specific moving object whenthe predefined event occurs in the mobile communication terminal. 19.The terminal of claim 18, wherein the predefined event is one of a lowbattery and a message reception.
 20. The terminal of claim 14, whereinthe controller is further configured to move each of the moving objectsat a variable speed.
 21. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the number ofthe plurality of moving objects is increased or decreased during themovement of the moving objects.
 22. The terminal of claim 21, wherein atleast one of the plurality of moving objects appears from time to timeregardless of a user input.
 23. The terminal of claim 14, wherein themoving objects move in the touch screen as if the moving objects weremoving in a 3-dimensional space.